Middlesbrough Council

The complainant made three information requests relating to a particular housing development. Middlesbrough Borough Council refused all three requests because it deemed them to be vexatious and thus manifestly unreasonable. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows. Although none of the requests were vexatious, Request 3 was burdensome and thus manifestly unreasonable. However, whilst the Council was entitled rely on Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR to refuse Request 3, it was not entitled to rely on that exception to refuse either Request 1 or Request 2. In respect of Request 3, the Commissioner also finds that the Council was under a duty to provide advice and assistance to the complainant to help him narrow his request which it failed to discharge. The Council thus breached Regulation 9 of the EIR. Finally, the Council also failed to issue refusal notices to any of the requests within 20 working days and thus breached Regulation 14(2) of the EIR in respect of each request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: issue fresh responses, under the EIR, to both Request 1 and Request 2, which do not rely on Regulation 12(4)(b); Provide the complainant with advice and assistance to help him refine Request 3 such that it can be answered without imposing an unreasonable cost on the Council.